Here is a quick review of the 8 Essentials for Project-Based Learning
1. Significant Content -
What important knowledge and concept, derived from the standards, do I want my students to know?
What is essential for my students to understand this content?
Is this specific content going to have significance to my students in terms of their own lives and interests?
2. A Need to Know......
What entry event do you plan that will activate the students' need to know more? It can be almost anything.
A video
A lively discussion
A guest speaker
A piece of mock correspondence that sets up a scenario
3. A DRIVING QUESTION!!!
Pro-active
Open-ended
Complex
Linked to the core of what you want students to learn.
It could be
Abstract (When is war justified?)
Concrete (Is our water safe to drink?)
Focused on solving a problem (How can we improve this website so that more people will use it?)
4. Student Voice and Choice
This is KEY!! In terms of making a project feel meaningful to students, the more voice and choice, the better. Allow students to
Select what topic to study within a general Driving Question
Choose how to design, create, and present products
How they will structure their time
5.21st Century Skills - Does this include the following?
Collaboration
Communication
Critical thinking
Use of technology
6. Inquiry and Innovation
Students find project work to be more meaningful if they are asked to conduct real inquiry. In PBL that means students follow a trail that begins with their own questions, leads to a search for resources and the discovery of answers, and which ultimately leads to generating new questions, testing ideas, and drawing their own conclusion.
7. Feedback and Revision
How will you provide feedback DURING the process? This type of feedback makes the learning meaningful because it emphasized that creating high-quality products and performances is an important purpose of the endeavor.
You don’t have to be the only reader…. find adult mentors to provide feedback. Reach out into the community.
8. Publicly Presented Product
When students present their work to a real audience, they care more about its quality! Who is the appropriate audience for the PBL project?
Project Based Learning
Here is a quick review of the 8 Essentials for Project-Based Learning
1. Significant Content -
What important knowledge and concept, derived from the standards, do I want my students to know?
What is essential for my students to understand this content?
Is this specific content going to have significance to my students in terms of their own lives and interests?
2. A Need to Know......
What entry event do you plan that will activate the students' need to know more? It can be almost anything.
A video
A lively discussion
A guest speaker
A piece of mock correspondence that sets up a scenario
3. A DRIVING QUESTION!!!
Pro-active
Open-ended
Complex
Linked to the core of what you want students to learn.
It could be
Abstract (When is war justified?)
Concrete (Is our water safe to drink?)
Focused on solving a problem (How can we improve this website so that more people will use it?)
4. Student Voice and Choice
This is KEY!! In terms of making a project feel meaningful to students, the more voice and choice, the better. Allow students to
Select what topic to study within a general Driving Question
Choose how to design, create, and present products
How they will structure their time
5.21st Century Skills - Does this include the following?
Collaboration
Communication
Critical thinking
Use of technology
6. Inquiry and Innovation
Students find project work to be more meaningful if they are asked to conduct real inquiry. In PBL that means students follow a trail that begins with their own questions, leads to a search for resources and the discovery of answers, and which ultimately leads to generating new questions, testing ideas, and drawing their own conclusion.
7. Feedback and Revision
How will you provide feedback DURING the process? This type of feedback makes the learning meaningful because it emphasized that creating high-quality products and performances is an important purpose of the endeavor.
You don’t have to be the only reader…. find adult mentors to provide feedback. Reach out into the community.
8. Publicly Presented Product
When students present their work to a real audience, they care more about its quality! Who is the appropriate audience for the PBL project?